Fred Thompson

Edging closer to entering the presidential race, Republican Fred Thompson announced Tuesday that he had raised $3.4 million while he "tested the waters" in June. Although the amount prompted him to crow about his support, skeptics said it fell short of expectations. Thompson, who served eight years in the U.S. Senate from Tennessee, drew on his roots by raising more than 70% of his first month's haul from Southern states, a campaign finance report filed Tuesday showed.

franklin, tenn. -- It's just an old red pickup, with a gouged and rusted hood and an expired U.S. Senate license plate, parked behind his mother's home off a busy highway in this gentrifying town south of Nashville. But for Fred Thompson, the 1990 Chevy was more than a means of transportation. It was a good-luck charm that boosted his first political campaign back in 1994, when his prospects were flagging.

Fred Thompson, the all-but-declared presidential hopeful, made his Iowa debut Friday before a ready-made crowd at the state fair, cradling a small pig, marveling at a cow made of butter and ducking any serious talk of issues. The former Tennessee senator, who is expected to formally announce his candidacy for the Republican nomination in a few weeks, scattered hints as if they were candy corn.

lawrenceburg, tenn. -- Ask folks here about the most talked-about potential Republican candidate for president, and the answer comes quick: "We're ready for Freddie." Truth be told, Lawrenceburg has been ready for months for its favorite son, former Sen. Fred D. Thompson, to announce his candidacy for president.

Former Sen. Fred Thompson of Tennessee told supporters Thursday that he would formally enter the race for the Republican presidential nomination next week, with TV and Internet appearances designed to exploit the actor-politician's celebrity. Thompson, 65, has talked since spring about running for president, but has repeatedly put off an announcement as he replaced staffers and raised more than $3 million for the fledgling effort.

Fred Thompson launched his presidential bid Wednesday night on a TV talk show in Burbank as eight candidates for the Republican presidential nomination parsed their differences over immigration, Iraq and other issues -- while slinging a few barbs at their newest rival. "Maybe we're up past his bedtime," Sen. John McCain of Arizona quipped of the absentee candidate during the New Hampshire debate. Former Arkansas Gov.

In the summer of 1959, everyone could see that Sarah Elizabeth Lindsey was going places. Beautiful and brainy, she had edited the yearbook, joined the science club and graduated near the top of her class. In the fall, she'd be off to college. Her boyfriend, Freddie Thompson, was another story. A year behind Lindsey in school, he was a 6-foot-5 stick of undeveloped potential, awkward and lacking in drive.

Politician turned actor turned politician Fred Thompson may have a Hollywood strategy when it comes to his presidential run (after all, he did announce his candidacy this week on the Jay Leno show), but he'll have a hard time getting a Hollywood audience. For starters, the entertainment industry Democrats are much too busy shuttling between Barack Obama and Hillary Rodham Clinton fundraisers to even think about helping out a fellow actor, let alone a conservative Republican one.

No more winks. No more hints. No more "testing the waters." On his first day as a full-fledged candidate for the White House, Fred Thompson finally climbed aboard a mustard-color coach Thursday and set off across Iowa, asking Republicans for support. The former Tennessee senator kept a light schedule: two campaign rallies, a handful of TV interviews and a pep talk to supporters at house parties around the nation.

A day after touting his "100% record against abortion," Republican presidential hopeful Fred Thompson said Friday that women should face no criminal penalties for having one during the first three months of pregnancy. Authorities "can do whatever they want to with abortion doctors, as far as I'm concerned," the former Tennessee senator said. But "if it comes down to giving criminal sanctions to a 19-year-old girl and her mama, I'm against that."